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The Every 15 Minutes Event at Rhea County High School March 26, 2012. This was a program organized by the Rhea County Anti-Drug Coalition (RCAD) and the Rhea County Sheriff's Department. It was presented to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking and/or texting while driving.

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The Human Barbie

Author: Tiffany SoysterDate: April 30, 2014

My word! It has certainly been a long time since I’ve penned
something personally. Life in and out of
the office is a little crazy right now. It’s hard for me to believe that the
end of the school year is just around the corner. Time, slow down!

I’m kinda a news junkie.
I’m not sure where it comes from.
Maybe my grandfather, who despite having more than 200 television
channels available to him, never changed the channel from Fox News for his last
six or so years of life. It could be
that I worked at a newspaper for three years, and spent some time on the staff
of my college newspaper. Or, it could simply be because I’m a nerd, and the
news simply interests me.

I was recently introduced to Human Barbie. Valeria Lukyanova, or Amatue as she refers to
herself, is a young Russian whose concept of beauty has led her to adopt a doll-like
appearance. Valeria sports platinum blond hair, a surgically enhanced chest,
and a seemingly impossible waistline of a mere 19 inches.

Just a quick Google search brings up pictures of a woman who
looks more like a Japanese animae character.
Her waist is tiny, her eyes seem huge, and her complexion is
flawless. A jump over to YouTube offers
makeup tutorials on how to achieve her look.

Valeria admits to having breast enhancement surgery, but
justifies her trip under the knife by asking who doesn’t have that procedure done? In her mind, it’s pretty standard practice.

Interestingly enough, admitting to this solo surgery still
draws criticism. Not because she had the
surgery, but because that seems to be the only one she has had (though there is
plenty of speculation of a surgery to have her lowest ribs removed. Who knew that was even possible?) Human Ken,
as Justin Jedlica has come to be known, calls Lukyanova an “illusionist,”
adding "she has extensions. She wears stage makeup." Jedlica himself admits to around 90 surgeries
to achieve the look he has today, and spent over $100,000 to have the “perfect”
body.

So, what does this say about us? What does it say about our culture when
people are willing to go to such drastic measures to achieve “perfection?”
Remember Heidi Montag, who famously had 10 plastic surgery procedures in one
day?

It says that ours girls aren’t good enough. It says that beauty is a platform to be
reached, yet seems out of the grasp of those outside of Hollywood.

Every day, I deal with young teenage girls that feel like
they are “not good enough.” They feel like they aren’t pretty enough, skinny
enough, tall enough or “blessed” enough.
But, here’s the problem propagated by people like Lukyanova, Jedlica and
Montag. Though we know in our hearts that they are the extreme cases, we forget
that there’s really only a small difference between what they have done and
what a magazine does. Both are
presenting unrealistic and unattainable standards of beauty. Magazines just use computers to do it.

A few months ago, Target found itself under fire for an
image on their website. Embracing the
unhealthy concept of a “thigh gap,” their Photoshop pro went a little too far
with a couple of pictures on the store’s website.

Thankfully, several people stepped in, arguing the unhealthy
body image promoted by these ads. And
several spoke out against Human Barbie, saying “Seems like a logical extension
of our celebrity-crazed society. How is this any different in kind from
celebrity runway photos? So thin is in? How about crazy-thin? So you want
perfect complexion? How about crazy-perfect, dead-white complexion?” Another
added, “Completely not my cup of tea (I prefer natural beauty), but this gal is
just reflecting back to us what our society values.”

But where are these people when teens look through Seventeen
Magazine or Teen Vogue? Where are the voices crying out for real beauty as a
teen looks at these images? Slowly, they are stepping forward. Recently, a few
teens have stepped up, asking the magazines to stop photoshopping and
airbrushing their models. Swimwear
companies are creating modest swim attire. Teens are creating businesses
selling undergarments that are for real people. Even Heidi Montag has admitted
she regrets her surgeries, saying she was young and gave in to pressure. What a voice of reason in a world where our
teen girls have no voice.

I challenge you to do the same. Make sure your teen knows
what beauty is. Make sure they know that
beauty on the outside is an overflow of the beauty they have on the
inside. Encourage them to go without the
make-up or the hair curlers. But, maybe
you should take it a step further, and go without it yourself. Is that challenge accepted?

Sound off in our forum here! Do you believe our culture places too much importance on physical appearance? Do you think we are addicted to going under the knife to reach perfection? Are you willing to accept the no make-up challenge to encourage your teen? Let us know!